War Crimes Sentence Issued

A Croat who confessed to taking part in the Bosnian Serb Army's massacre of more than 1,000 Muslims in Srebrenica last year has been sentenced to 10 years in jail. Drazen Erdemovic, 25, is the first person to be sentenced by the Hague-based U.N. criminal tribunal for former Yugoslavia. He's also the first person to be sentenced by an international war crimes tribunal of any kind in half a century. Presiding Judge Claude Jorda of France said the three-judge panel had taken into account Erdemovic's age, his low military rank, his remorse and his cooperation with prosecutors. The tribunal can impose a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

'Stealth' Jets to Stay in Kuwait

Defense Secretary William Perry says eight U.S. "Stealth" fighters will remain in Kuwait indefinitely as a message to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The jets were rushed to Kuwait in September in a confrontation between the United States and Iraq over attacks by Saddam's military forces against Kurds in northern Iraq. They had been expected to return to the United States early next month. In Kuwait today, Perry also said the United States would remove 4,200 American troops from Kuwait by Christmas but will keep 1,800 Marines aboard ships off-shore. Three thousand troops were sent to Kuwait in September along with the "Stealth" fighters.

Zaire Mission Approval Set

Canadian officials say the international humanitarian mission to central Africa will be approved today at a meeting in Ottawa. The agreement calls for the establishment of a multinational headquarters in Uganda that will coordinate airdrops of food into eastern Zaire if needed. The project is aimed at bringing food to hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees still in eastern Zaire. The international coalition appears determined to go ahead with its plans despite opposition from Zaire to food drops and skepticism from relief workers that this is the route to go.

More Serb Protests Planned

Serbian demonstrators plan to take to the streets of Belgrade again today in a bid to overthrow President Slobodan Milosevic. Activists for the opposition coalition admit they face an uphill battle to maintain the momentum of the past week, in which up to 100,000 people jammed the city streets daily. The protests were sparked when electoral commissions controlled by the ruling Socialist Party overturned clear opposition victories in Serbia-wide local elections almost two weeks ago. The opposition has seized on its unexpected wave of support, turning it into a mass movement demanding Milosevic's resignation.

Mother Teresa has Angioplasty

Mother Teresa underwent a successful X-ray test and surgical procedure today following bouts of heart failure, an Indian clinic official said. "Both the angiography and the angioplasty are over. She is well. It is a success," A.K. Chatterjee, administrator of the B.M. Birla Heart Research Center in Calcutta, told reporters. Mother Teresa, a Nobel peace laureate, was admitted to the clinic last Tuesday but the procedures were delayed twice because the 86-year-old nun was too weak.

Yeltsin Feels 'Normal'

The chief Kremlin doctor says Boris Yeltsin feels "absolutely normal" following his heart bypass surgery earlier this month. The 65-year-old Russian president is said to be taking two or three walks a day and gradually building up his exercise routine. He's expected to start visiting his office next week and take on a "fuller" work schedule Dec. 20. Yeltsin is recovering at a sanatorium outside Moscow.

League Meeting on Settlements

The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied Arab land, a Palestinian official said. The Egyptian government newspaper al-Ahram said President Hosni Mubarak sent an "urgent message" to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn him that new settlement activity on occupied Arab land threatens the Jewish state's peace agreements with its neighbors. Netanyahu has enraged Arabs with his decision to lift a freeze imposed by the Jewish state's former Labor government on settlement building.

French Truckers Want Gov't Help

Striking French truck drivers met employers today to sign deals on some of their demands and union leaders said they wanted to end the crippling 12-day-old stoppage provided the government stepped in. Unions and employers were signing agreements on early retirement at 55 instead of 60 for drivers with 25 years at the wheel, sick pay, travel expenses and a ban on Sunday driving. But the union still wants government guarantees of payment for all hours worked, including unloading time and compulsory rest periods.

Bleak Outlook for IRA Truce

Hopes of a pre-Christmas IRA cease-fire appeared slim today after Britain's latest statement on Northern Ireland drew criticism. Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish Republican Army's political wing, Sinn Fein, accused Prime Minister John Major of wrecking prospects for peace by making his terms for a truce public. Adams and moderate Catholic leader John Hume had offered Major proposals for a new IRA cease-fire and said they wanted the negotiations to remain private until an agreement was reached. And Irish Prime Minister John Bruton said Major should have waited until London and Dublin agreed on terms, rather than publish "preliminary points of view."

Algerians Ban Islamic Parties

Algerians voted overwhelmingly for constitutional changes banning Islamic political parties, according to official results of a referendum announced today. Official figures showed 85.8 percent voted "yes" for a draft constitution against 14.19 percent "no" in yesterday's referendum, Interior Minister Mustapha Ben Mansour said. The endorsement is expected to strengthen the hand of President Liamine Zeroual ahead of parliamentary elections set for the first half of 1997. The new constitution bars politicians from campaigning on the basis of the Muslim faith, the Arab or Berber languages, gender issues or regional differences.

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